Peckham - Perspectivae Communis - 1580

THE SCIENCE OF VISION ACCORDING TO PECKHAM: FROM THE LIBRARY OF THE FAMOUS FISIOLOGIST BORELLI
An important testimony to the history of optics, perspective, and the transmission of scientific knowledge from the medieval age to the Renaissance.
Printed in Cologne in 1580, this treatise gathers three books dedicated to light, vision, reflection, and refraction, illustrated by numerous woodcut geometric diagrams.
On the title page appears the handwritten inscription «Ex lib. Borelli», traceable to the library of Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (1608–1679), one of the protagonists of the Italian scientific revolution, celebrated mathematician and physiologist, a figure of the Galilean scientific milieu, which gives the exemplar particular historical interest.
The contemporaneous parchment binding preserves the material character of an authentic sixteenth-century scientific book.

ABSTRACT
The Perspectiva communis of John Peckham is one of the most representative treatises of medieval optics, a discipline that for centuries formed the theoretical foundation for the study of light and visual perception. Composed in the thirteenth century, the work systematizes the geometric and physical knowledge of the Arabic and Latin optical tradition, organizing it into three books dedicated to direct vision, reflection, and refraction.
This Cologne edition of 1580, published by the heirs of Arnold Birckmann, presents the text in the editorial tradition associated with Pascal Duhamel, accompanied by numerous woodcut diagrams illustrating rays of light, visual angles, and optical phenomena.

The most significant element of this single exemplar is the ancient inscription «Ex lib. Borelli», present on the title page. The formula, meaning “from the library of Borelli,” indicates provenance from the library of Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, renowned Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physiologist.

WHY TO BUY
A book that gathers three areas of particular collecting interest: the history of science, the Renaissance optical tradition, and provenance from an illustrious scientific library.
Peckham’s work represents a fundamental step in the transmission of optical knowledge developed by authors such as Alhazen, Euclid, and the medieval perspective tradition. Its geometric framework, built around the propagation of light and the laws of vision, helped form the theoretical patrimony from which later studies on perspective and physical optics developed.
The sixteenth-century edition testifies to the long fortune of a text born almost three centuries earlier and still deemed worthy of publication in Europe during the scientific revolution.

Of particular importance is the inscription «Ex lib. Borelli». Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (1608–1679) was one of the major representatives of Italian mathematical science in the seventeenth century. A professor in Pisa, a member of the Accademia del Cimento, and a figure tied to the Galilean tradition, he applied principles of geometry and mechanics to the study of nature and the human body.
His most famous work, De motu animalium, published posthumously in 1680–1681, is considered one of the foundational texts of modern biomechanics. Borelli also contributed to the study of astronomy, mechanics, and natural phenomena, placing himself in the great process of transformation of European science.

Provenance from his library constitutes a direct link between the medieval optical tradition and one of the protagonists of the new Seicento science.
The presence of woodcut diagrams, the quarto format, and the contemporaneous parchment binding complete the profile of an exemplar of notable historical and bibliographic charm.

MARKET VALUE
Proposed market value: €2,500–2,800.
Commercial appraisal considers the importance of the text for the history of optics, the sixteenth-century edition, the apparatus of woodcut diagrams, and above all the interest of the manuscript provenance “Ex lib. Borelli.”

Membership in Giovanni Alfonso Borelli’s library represents a distinctive element of considerable significance for collectors of scientific books, history of physics, and documents of the Galilean revolution.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Colonia, heirs of Arnold Birckmann, 1580. In-4°, 48 leaves, corresponding to 96 pages, according to bibliographic collation A–M⁴. Numerous woodcut geometric diagrams in the text, oval printer’s device on the title page, decorated initial and woodcut headpieces.
Contemporaneous parchment flosca binding, with repairs to edges and spine.
On the title page remains the handwritten ink inscription «Ex lib. Borelli», an element of particular interest for provenance history.
In old books, with a long, centuries-spanning history, some defects may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing includes AI Visualizations. Refer to the original photographs to verify the object’s actual condition. The images are an integral part of the description.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Perspectivae communis libri tres.
Coloniae, apud haeredes Arnoldi Birckmanni, 1580.
Johannes Peckham (John Pecham).

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Before the birth of modern optics, the study of light belonged to a complex universe of knowledge in which geometry, natural philosophy, physiology, and mathematics were deeply interwoven.
The Perspectiva communis by John Peckham holds an important position in this tradition. Composed in the thirteenth century, it contributed to the diffusion of a model of vision explanation based on the geometric analysis of light rays and the study of light properties.

The first book deals with the nature of light, colors, and direct vision, considering the functioning of the eye and the propagation of visual rays. The second examines reflection and the behavior of light in mirrors. The third is devoted to refraction and the changes in the direction of light rays when crossing different media.

Diagrams form an essential part of the exposition. Through lines, angles, and geometric constructions, the reader can visually follow the demonstrations and understand phenomena otherwise difficult to represent.

The work situates itself in the tradition of medieval perspective, decisively influenced by Arab optical science, particularly the studies of Ibn al-Haytham, known in the West as Alhazen.
Its persistence in the sixteenth-century book market demonstrates how these knowledge continued to be studied and transmitted even in an era of profound scientific transformations.

The link of the exemplar to Giovanni Alfonso Borelli adds another level of interest: a medieval book on vision that has passed through the library of a scientist who was a protagonist of the new mathematical philosophy of nature.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
John Peckham, also known as Johannes Pecham, was born around 1230 and died in 1292. An English Franciscan, theologian, natural philosopher, and mathematician, he was one of the most important intellectual figures of medieval England.
He studied and taught in the European university milieu, especially in Paris, and held important positions in the Franciscan order. In 1279 he was named archbishop of Canterbury.
His contribution to the history of science is chiefly linked to the Perspectiva communis, a treatise that synthesizes and organizes a substantial portion of the thirteenth-century optical knowledge.
The work became a reference text in the university tradition and helped keep alive the medieval theories about light and vision.

PROVENANCE: THE BORELLI INSCRIPTION
The inscription «Ex lib. Borelli», visible on the title page, constitutes the most intriguing element of the exemplar.
Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (1608–1679) was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and physiologist, considered one of the founders of biomechanics. He taught in Messina and Pisa and participated in the Accademia del Cimento, a fundamental institution for the spread of the experimental method in seventeenth-century Italy.

In his investigations he applied mathematical reasoning and the principles of mechanics to the study of natural phenomena. His posthumously published work De motu animalium described the movement of organisms through the analysis of forces, levers, and anatomical structures.

The presence of a medieval optics book in his library is consistent with the scientific interests of the time and with the continuity between ancient and medieval mathematical traditions and the new science.
The inscription thus represents an interesting provenance testimony.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Perspectiva communis was probably composed in the 70s of the thirteenth century and reached wide manuscript circulation before the advent of printing.
The first printed edition dates to 1482–1483. During the Renaissance the work continued to be published, studied, and used as a reference for optical and perspective tradition.
The Cologne edition of 1580, printed by the heirs of Arnold Birckmann, testifies to the vitality of this scientific patrimony in the second half of the sixteenth century.
The presence of numerous woodcut diagrams reflects the importance of graphical representation in communicating mathematical knowledge. The figures have not only a decorative function but accompany and render intelligible the geometric demonstrations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
DiLaura, Bibliotheca Opticoria, 35.
VD16, J 679.
John Peckham, Perspectivae communis libri tres, Coloniae, eredi di Arnold Birckmann, 1580.